Students need to know about booze's risks

Friday

Nov 9, 2012 at 12:01 AM

The devastating five-story fall a Penn State cheerleader took last month from an off-campus apartment building should serve as a warning to college students about the perils of drinking. But it won't, unless the adults in the room use this and other vivid examples of alcohol's terrible risks.

The devastating five-story fall a Penn State cheerleader took last month from an off-campus apartment building should serve as a warning to college students about the perils of drinking. But it won't, unless the adults in the room use this and other vivid examples of alcohol's terrible risks.

Police interviews and evidence indicate that 19-year-old Paige Raque of Louisville was drinking before she fell on Oct. 13. She is slowly recovering from head trauma and a broken pelvis. Police continue to investigate and are looking into who was responsible for providing the alcohol.

Going to college is a heady experience. For many students, drinking is a rite of passage, accompanying newfound personal freedom amid the pressure of course work and exams. Every year accidents, alcohol poisoning and other booze-related problems occur on college campuses. Property damage from fire, fights and assaults including rape, often go hand in hand with alcohol-driven events.

In fact alcohol itself should be a subject for serious study. Probably most colleges offer a kind of primer on alcohol risks, as Penn State does as part of freshman orientation. But an actual full-credit class would be better. An academic course could include a comparison of the states' alcohol laws, the varying penalties for violations of the drinking age and other rules, to a scientific overview of the adverse effects alcohol can have on the young brain. Students would learn that alcohol's risks aren't just immediate, but can be long-lasting.

Studies show that rats exposed to high levels of alcohol during adolescence may be more sensitive to alcohol-induced memory impairments later in life. Young rats experienced more extensive brain damage than adult rats exposed to high levels of alcohol.

Recent human studies also found cognitive impairments in adolescent alcohol abusers weeks after they stopped drinking. Adolescent-onset alcohol abuse has been associated with a reduction in the size of the hippocampus.

Students who enjoy the euphoria of a beer buzz or don't mind the occasional "morning after" memory lapse might not like the idea that their memory could be damaged long-term. They might actually worry about shrinking their hippocampus, which plays a key role in both short-term and long-term memory as well as spatial navigation.

Only rarely do college students fall out of windows. But thousands drink. Colleges and universities should develop a first-term course on alcohol. For some students it might make no difference at all. But others might decide not to drink at all, or at least to drink less.

Students should be taught the legal and physical risks alcohol use poses so that they can make informed decisions if and when they drink.